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Sweerts, Michael
Self-portrait with Skull Autoportrait au crâne
around 1660 v. 1661

In this self-portrait, the Flemish artist Michael Sweerts gazes at the viewer over his shoulder, a dynamic pose that came to connote the artist’s creative vitality. Brazenly inserting his finger into a skull, he seems to be openly taunting mortality. This is one of a number of provocative self-portraits in which Sweerts comments upon the power of art. His contemporaries valued portraits (as we do today) for their ability to transcend time by preserving the likenesses of loved ones long gone.

Sweerts, Michael
Brussels, Belgium 1618-Goa, India 1664 Brussels, Belgium 1618-Goa, India 1664
Self-portrait with Skull Autoportrait au crâne
around 1660 v. 1661
Oil on canvas Huile sur toile
Whole: 30.9843 x 23.9764 in.; 78.7 x 60.9 cm
Gift of Alfred and Isabel Bader, 2004 Don d'Alfred et Isabel Bader, 2004
47-001

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